Reviews

We follow Paul Copeland throughout. His wife passed away from illness, which left him alone with his daughter, Cara, and he’s an attorney. When he was younger, he had a summer romance with a girl called Lucy at a camp, and when he left his post (he as a ‘guard’) to, *ahem*, mess around with her, his sister went missing, as did three other campers. Two bodies were found as remains, but not his sister.

After years of Paul and Lucy not talking (I should point out that Lucy’s father owned the camp, and their family was put through the wringer for not having good enough security) Lucy receives a journal which has very similar events to what happened that night, except it states that they both lied. When they start to look into it further together, they are lead down a series of different, confusing paths. Everyone believes her to be dead, but Paul has a different feeling about it. There’s a body that arises, the third body that supposedly went missing that night, but he’s grown up and has only just been murdered. That give him hope, albeit, only a small amount, that his sister is still alive and out there.

Meanwhile, he is working on a TW r*pe case, and he has been getting pressure from the other side to drop whatever he’s doing, otherwise information about him will be dug up.

There is a lot of digging, and Ira, Lucy’s father, who suffers from Alzheimers, asks to speak to Paul directly. When he does, Ira pulls out a gun, and shoots him. He only stops when Lucy begs him not to, and he, instead, shoots himself.

They find remains of a skeleton just like Camille (Paul’s sister) but he doesn’t believe it’s her. After a visit to ‘Red Onion Prison’ - I love that name - to see the person who was assumed to have done the murders, he admits to it. He says that Gil Perez (the third victim) wanted to play a trick on one of the girls who was acting ‘slutty’ and ‘teasing’ him, so they wanted to play a prank on her. Too late, they realised he was actually a murderer, and he killed them. Gil and Camille managed to escape, but with them digging now, they had resurfaced. Camille is alive, and living with Paul’s Uncle. The murderer also tells him that Lucy was an accomplice. Her father was a drug addict, and the murderer threatened her father and so she pulled Paul away from his post, so the killings could be done.

Honestly, writing this review there is a lot that doesn’t make sense to me. There are a lot of twists and turns, a lot of different things and different people to remember, and almost too many plot twists - almost - that sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Some of it, I didn’t really see the relevance. Like the IRA stuff, it was mentioned briefly throughout and then dropped? And the remains that were found (apparently Paul’s father strangled her, and she knew where Camille was this whole time and she found out he had sold her mum and dad to the government, and she was going to spill?) was Paul’s mother, and was she pregnant? I swear that’s what they said, and if that’s the case, don’t they have a sibling out there somewhere? But, to be fair the book is very entertaining, and I like being kept on my feet. So, whilst sometimes it’s a bit difficult to get your head around (and also some of the language is slightly misogynistic, but I don’t know if that is just me being sensitive) but I would definitely recommend!

Content Warnings

corinicolebyers's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

emmalin's review

Go to review page

5.0

Another good book, I love Harlan coben

pam2375's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I thought that this was very suspenseful and it sure kept us entertained on a 13 hour car ride!

goodem9199's review

Go to review page

3.0

This was my first Coben book, and one of my firsts in this genre. It was entertaining, and it kept me guessing, but I can't say I loved it. I'm glad I gave it a try, though!

lynguy1's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

The Woods by Harlan Coben is a standalone novel that combines courtroom drama with family secrets. It blends suspense and action well. Paul Copeland is the County Prosecutor for Essex County, New Jersey. He’s in the middle of a big trial and under a lot of pressure to find more evidence when a man is murdered who could be the person who disappeared twenty years ago with Paul’s sister.

Paul is a likeable character that is raising his daughter alone after his wife dies. His career is on the upswing, but what happens when threats and hope come from all sides? Could his sister still be alive? Will he cave to threats?

The book is somewhat slow-paced at times and combines a legal thriller with family drama and secrets. There are plenty of red herrings and twists to keep readers on their toes and the ending is much different than I expected. Themes include rape, murder, family relationships and secrets, young love, threats, and much more.

Overall, this had a complex plot and was suspenseful at times. Most reviewers have enjoyed this one much more than I did. 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars. The pace was too slow.

This is my honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date for the paperback version was April 1, 2008.

More...